Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an inflammation disorder and possibly an autoimmune disease. The components of the autoimmune response in the circulatory system are of considerable interest to clinicians. Because aberrations of costimulation status have been noted in COPD, the presence of autoantibodies to B7 costimulatory factor CD80 were investigated in a cohort of patients. Recombinant rs1CD80 (lacking the transmembrane domain of CD80) was used for Western blot analysis and ELISA to investigate the presence of autoantibodies in sera of patients with stable COPD and in controls without COPD. Cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 were detected using ELISA. Western blot revealed a specific band reacting to rs1CD80 by diluting sera pool of patients, which indicated the existence of autoantibodies to CD80. The serum level of anti-rs1CD80 was higher in patients with COPD than in controls(P=0.0185) and was positively correlated to the serum level of IL-6 (r=0.797, P<0.001) and IL-8 (r=0.608, P<0.001). There was a tendency that more higher level of anti-rs1CD80, more severe COPD stage. The existence of autoantibodies to costimulatory factor CD80 may suggest a pathogenic role of costimulatory factors in COPD.